


Gone Fishing

by Galaxa13



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Gen, Gender-Neutral My Unit | Byleth, before the game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:22:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22934002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galaxa13/pseuds/Galaxa13
Summary: Sometimes it's hard to connect with children. Harder still when your wife died and you know your former friend didsomethingto the baby and said kid never laughs or cries. Jeralt does his best with his circumstances, though.
Relationships: Jeralt Reus Eisner & My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 1
Kudos: 65





	Gone Fishing

"I'm back!" Jeralt called out as he opened the door to the small house he shared with one other person. The child was already standing there waiting for him.

"Did the mission go well?" Byleth asked as they gazed up at him with those big, fathomless eyes. Even though he was used to it Jeralt still found the gaze somewhat unnerving. The eyes of a child should be full of curiosity, fear, excitement, any number of things, but Byleth rarely showed any emotion whatsoever. Whatever emotions they _did_ showcase were so small he felt he was probably the only person on the planet who could notice them.

"Of course it did, what do you take me for?" he said as he reached out and ruffled the hair of his kid. "You hold down the fort alright while I was gone?"

Byleth nodded wordlessly. Jeralt sighed as he raised his hand from their head and ran it through his own hair. He wasn't much of a conversationalist himself, but Byleth sure made it hard to talk to them. He had almost hoped he'd come home to find them upset, lonely without him. It was probably terrible of him, but he still felt somewhat disappointed they were unflinching as always. This was the first time he had left them alone for so long by themself. Did they even miss him at all?

His thoughts were put to a halt when he felt a small hand grab his own. Blinking in surprise he looked down and saw Byleth standing closer to him, staring at the floor as they squeezed his much larger hand with their smaller one. His face softened and he squeezed their hand back. They missed him after all. Looking after a kid alone was sure to be full of moments of self-doubt, especially when they were as unusual as Byleth was, but moments like this helped assuage his fears.

"Since I'm back now," Jeralt said as he got down on one knee to be at eye level with the kid, "why don't I teach you how to fish?"

Byleth stared at him. A beat of silence passed and Jeralt resigned himself to carrying on.

"We can get up early tomorrow and hike to the pond. I'll show you how to cast a line and we'll catch enough fish to feed us for a week! You think you'd be up for that?"

"Alright."

Jeralt smiled and nodded at their answer. Then he stood up and said, "In that case we'll need some bait. Why don't you take one of those jars over there and go catch some bugs before the sun goes down? The bigger the better."

Byleth glanced at the row of jars on the windowsill and then back at him before nodding and trotting over. They picked up one of the empty ones and then slipped out the door. Jeralt walked over to the window and watched as the child set the jar down in the grass and began to wander around in search of bugs. He would have stayed there longer, but he still needed to unload his gear. Probably should set to making some dinner for himself and the kid after that too. He sighed as he made his way to the bedroom.

Meanwhile Byleth plucked a worm from the dirt and replaced the rock they had lifted. Bringing it over to their jar they glanced at the window. Despite there being no figure standing behind it they knew Jeralt was in there somewhere. That knowledge made a nearly imperceptible smile appear on their face. It was nice to have him back.

The next morning They were up at the crack of dawn. Jeralt rousing Byleth and handing them a pack already prepared while he shouldered a much larger one himself. Once out the door they began their march in the early morning mist. Byleth had to keep stifling yawns as they trudged behind Jeralt. Jeralt, meanwhile, had to keep encouraging to them to keep up or be left behind. Truly he would not have just left them, but he didn't want to let them to be slow about things. Mornings were the best time to fish and since he'd be teaching a novice they would already be losing ample time.

Once they finally made it to the pond Byleth seemed much more awake. They helped Jeralt set things up and listened well as he explained things to them. He showed them how to bait the hook (with the bugs they had acquired) and how to bring the fish in once they felt a tug. When finally they were both settled and their lines in the water a silence fell between them. Silence was the usual, but while fishing Jeralt felt more at ease with it.

After a while Byleth was surprisingly the first to break the silence.

"How long does this take?" they asked.

"As long as it needs to, kid," Jeralt replied. "Fishing is all about patience. You have to wait for the fish to come to you. Can't scare them off."

Byleth sighed next to him and he couldn't help but smirk. He relished in every sign of feeling from them. If they were feeling antsy or bored it just showed that they were like any other kid. Each tiny display were like a balm to his doubts and fears. They were just like any other kid. He'd grasp onto everything that proved such.

"Oh." Byleth's eyes grew wide and their grip tightened on the pole. 

"You got something?" Jeralt shifted his position as he turned towards them.

"I think so." Byleth said as they began to pull. Jeralt watched as they concentrated on their catch, the furrow of their brows and the focus of their eyes on the water. If they struggled too much he'd step in and help, but he wanted to see if they could do it by themself first. Patience was important for teaching too.

When Byleth finally pulled the fish out Jeralt gave them a heavy pat on the shoulder saying, "Good job, kid, you did it."

Byleth stared at the fish still wiggling on the end of their line.

"How 'bout I show you have to clean a fish now?" Jeralt said, pulling is own line out of the water and laying his pole down. He beckoned the kid over as he started pulling things out from their packs. He showed them how to safely remove the hook from the fish and lay them out. Then he took out a knife and pointed out where to make a cut in the fish. As he worked he was careful to point out each thing and Byleth watched silently, their gaze unreadable.

"And that's how it's done." Jeralt said, as he wiped off his blade.

"It's not very much." Byleth noted as they looked down at the fillets.

"You didn't catch a very big fish," Jeralt stated as he began to wrap the fillets up. "We've got time. We can use some of the scraps from this for bait and catch more."

As the day wore on they caught more fish. Despite their success on their first tug Byleth lost a few and needed Jeralt's help bringing in some others. All in all it was a successful first foray into fishing. Jeralt was pleased with what they were able to do. As they began to pack up for the hike back home he reached out and ruffled their hair.

"I'm proud of you," he said with a smile. "You're on your way to becoming a master angler."

"Angler?" Byleth titled their head as they gazed up at him.

"Uh, it's a fancy word for 'fisher'," he said. "Did you have fun?"

Byleth's eyes looked downward as they contemplated their answer. 

"I liked spending time with you." they answered as they finally looked back up at him.

"That's good to hear," Jeralt said, face softening. "Now let's get these fish home."

Standing up the two of them shouldered their packs and headed in the direction of their house. A small hand reached out and grabbed Jeralt's and he smiled. He'd do anythign for this kid.


End file.
